American Veterans Join Fight in Ukraine
The Ukrainians have been fighting the invasion of Russia in an increasing number of
Cities. MSNBC has constant coverage of the struggle and the amazing resistance.
I also found an amazing article from the New York Times online (3-5-2022) that outlines the stories of
American Veterans who are joining the fight in Ukraine.
The article starts with a volunteer named “Hector” who has already served two violent tours in Iraq
as a United States Marine. Since then he has gotten a pension an a civilian job and thought he
was done with military service. But recently he boarded a plane for one more deployment, this time as
a volunteer in Ukraine. He checked in several bags filled with rifle scopes, helmets and body armor
donated by other veterans.
“Sanctions can help, but sanctions can’t help right now, and people need help right now,” said the
former Marine, who lives in Tampa Bay, Fla. and asked that only his first name be used for security
reasons. “I can help right now,”
He is one of a surge of American veterans who say they are now preparing to join the fight in Ukraine,
Emboldened by the invitation of the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who earlier this week
announced that he was creating an “international legion” and asked volunteers from around the world
to help defend his nation against Russia.
Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, Dimytro Kuleba, echoed the call for fighters saying on Twitter,
“Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin, too.”
Hector said he hoped to train Ukrainians in his expertise: armored vehicles and heavy weapons.
“A lot of veterans, we have a calling to serve, and we trained our whole career for this kind of war,”
He said. “Sitting by and doing nothing? I had to o that when Afghanistan fell apart, and it weighted
heavily on me. I had to act.”
You can read the entire article online by searching for The New York Times: ‘I Just Can’t Stand By’:
American Veterans Join the Fight in Ukraine”.
RAMedia 